In an unexpected turn of events on Sunday afternoon in the National Football League, the Philadelphia Eagles simply ran riot against the Pittsburgh Steelers in what had been billed as the 'Battle of Pennsylvania'. Many had been impressed by the Eagles rookie quarter back Carson Wentz during his two previous outings and he continued to impress once again against a tough Steelers side that had also started the season at 2-0.

Most of the experts had picked the Steelers to win this match up due to how well both sides of the ball had been playing for the Steelers. But an early momentum shift allowed the Eagles to grow in confidence and eventually shut down the much-vaunted Pittsburgh offense.

Antonio Brown could not find the end zone today | Source: Rich Schultz/Getty Images
Antonio Brown could not find the end zone today | Source: Rich Schultz/Getty Images

Defense leads the way for the Eagles

The Steelers most dangerous side of the ball has been their explosive offense for the last few years and with a returning Marcus Wheaton, the expectation was for them to carry on where they left off against the Bengals. The Eagles defense had other ideas. Led by Malcolm Jenkins and the returning Kyle Williams, the Eagles restricted DeAngelo Williams to just 21 rushing yards and apart from wide receiver Antonio Brown, no other Steelers receiver had over 100 catching yards on the day.

Early on in the game, Wheaton had the opportunity to change the tone of the game right away but he dropped a certain touchdown in the end zone and when the ensuing Steelers' field goal was blocked, the Eagles gained the momentum and did not look back. The Eagles defense also got to quarterback Ben Roethlisberger time and time again during the game and forced two fumbles and an interception. Roethlisberger recovered one of the fumbles but the Eagles took full advantage of the other turnovers to put some points on the board.

Carson Wentz could be the answer for the Eagles as he continues to improve | Source: fansided.com
Carson Wentz could be the answer for the Eagles as he continues to improve | Source: fansided.com

The Eagles offense makes short work of the Pittsburgh secondary

As the game entered the second quarter, Pittsburgh began to slowly lose key personnel in their defensive line and in the secondary. This made it easier for the Eagles offense to find spaces down the field but full credit must go to the Eagles offensive line which kept Wentz well protected and allowed him to find his receivers on a regular basis. The offensive line also allowed running back Darren Sproles to cause some major damage which he did by picking up 128 receiving yards and a touchdown.

The story of the offense however was the QB play of Wentz. The rookie routinely found open targets on short designed plays or down the field and did not have any passes intercepted which showed how accurate he was all throughout the game. Whenever Wentz was in trouble he found tight end Brian Celek and wide receiver Jordan Matthews to keep the chains moving and ended his day with 301 passing yards and two touchdowns. The other touchdowns of the day were attributed to running backs Wendell Smallwood and Kenjon Barner in what was a blowout by the Eagles as they continue to build on their great start to the season.

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